I don’t know if I plan to continue this, make it a prompt based fic or something, but the idea wouldn’t leave me alone so…if I get any amazing prompts or inspiration maybe I’ll continue.

I kind of just wrote it to write something simple while taken a break from the commission I’m working on. Please don’t take it too seriously and please stop attacking me in my comment section. I wrote this for fun, there’s kind of a plot but it’s mostly just Tzuyu and Elkie being a cute vampire couple so I’m asking nicely - please don’t attack me.

Nevermore

“But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only

That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.”

Elkie blinked at the soft voice reciting poetry beside her. She had been resting on the couch, meditating to get her strength back. She hadn’t been asleep, she had lost that ability a long time ago and now had to settle on an hour or two of quiet meditation to regain her strength. They had fed last night, while her hunger was quenched the activity itself had tired her into requiring rest.

Red eyes flicked to the book shelf where the speaker stood. A book of poetry Elkie somewhat recognised in her hands. The woman was tall and, even with the eternal beauty granted by the change, she held an obvious natural beauty. Her eyes held the same red colour that Elkie’s did, only hers were brighter - she was younger and so lacked the age only ever visible in their eyes. Elkie had seen decades of history pass her by but this other woman, Tzuyu, had only been changed a month ago.

“Nothing farther then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—

 Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before—”

At the continue reading, Elkie smiled - recognising the poem

“On the---”

“On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.” Elkie continued, earning a look of surprise from her companion, “Then the bird said ‘Nevermore’.”

Tzuyu smiled, shy at being surprised so suddenly, “Sorry, did I wake you?”

“I wasn’t really asleep sweetheart,” Elkie reminded her, “And even if I were I would still rather hear you read.”

She opened her arms, Tzuyu moving at immortal speed to join her. She overshot the couch slightly, still adjusting to her new abilities. When she did stop she lost balance and fell backwards into her girlfriend’s waiting arms. Elkie chuckled and laid back, kissing the two puncture wounds located on the newborn’s neck. Tzuyu giggled and cuddled further into the elder.

“I didn’t know you liked poetry.” Elkie muttered,

Tzuyu chuckled, “You like it. With so much free time now I thought I could at least try.”

“And what’s the verdict?”

Tzuyu was quiet a moment, “I liked that one. I like when he talks about Lenore.”

“But he’s going mad,” Elkie explained, “His grief is giving way to insanity.”

“Maybe,” Tzuyu continued, “But he reminds me of you.”

“Gee thanks.”

Tzuyu hit her playfully, “I meant that he would do anything to know Lenore was okay, you did the same for me.”

Elkie hummed and kissed her softly, “You’re my Lenore.”

“I think I better fit the raven.”

“Hmm…you are dark an ominous.”

“Shut up!”

“I love you.”

Tzuyu smiled and leaned to kiss her again, suddenly she winced and stopped. Elkie was up like a shot, checking her over, “Are you alright?”

Tzuyu shook her head, guilt in her eyes, “I’m hungry.”

Elkie’s stomach dropped. Tzuyu was freshly turned, the newborn phase usually lasted at least a year. During this time she would be stronger, faster and more blood thirsty. Tzuyu would often complain she was hungry, Elkie had begged her to try and control it until it became unbearable but even then they would need to hunt more frequently. Nearly daily. The problem was that when Tzuyu hunted she would usually kill the victim, unable to control the thirst enough to only take what she needed.

This caused a moral conflict within the newborn. She still held her mortal views, having not long since turned, and killing people filled her with so much guilt that she would rather starve. But she couldn’t, her instincts wouldn’t let her. If it continued this way Elkie was positive they would have to move on from their quiet little cottage to somewhere further from any cities. People were already starting to notice the disappearances.

“Can you last a few more hours?” Elkie asked, “Just until nightfall?”

Tzuyu nodded shakily. Elkie cupped her face, she knew she was trying to stop herself. Still it was hard managing the newborn alone. When Elkie had been turned she was quickly inducted into a coven, they had travelled together for years before she opted to stay behind with Tzuyu. Vampires very rarely found their mates, so when Elkie found hers the coven accepted her decision to stay. Tzuyu had been intending to remain mortal until she finished college only things didn’t work out that way.

Elkie picked up the fallen book and handed it to Tzuyu, “Keep reading.”

Tzuyu swallowed, regaining her control and found her place. She settled back into her mates arms to continue reading.

“Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken--”

Knock, knock, knock.

Both women froze and exchanged a look.

“Tis some visitor,” Elkie recited, somewhat jokingly, “tapping at our chamber door.”

She stood, gesturing for Tzuyu to stay where she was. Being creatures of the undead meant they had no interest in making friends. Ergo there should be no one willingly knocking on their front door. As the got near it she paused, there were three options here. One, it was a door-to-door salesman or jehovah's witness which she tell to off. Two, it was another vampire whom could not enter uninvited making them not much of an immediate threat. Three, some unknown creature that would shove her down and hulk rip her arm off.

Though the latter probably wouldn’t knock.

Readying herself for whatever was on the other side, Elkie opened the door. Now out of all the options Elkie could not have foreseen who was on the other side. Now the supernatural world had a very clear hierarchy. It was required - otherwise there would be pure anarchy. The elected council were in charge of everything, they represented the main five groups. Vampires, Werewolves, Humans, Witches and an immortal representing anybody else. Below the council were their Lieutenants, usually advisors who spoke to their respective groups and maintained peace.

When Elkie opened the door she was shocked to find the Lieutenant to none other than the Queen of Vampires.

Im Nayeon was stood there, a smirk on her face. Elkie had only met her once before, back when she had been travelling with her coven. They had moved their territory too close to a werewolf pack and the Queen of Vampires (Myoui Mina) had sent Nayeon to resolve the conflict. Even then, Nayeon mainly talked with the coven leader, Seungyeon. Elkie had only ever seen her in passing, never up close like this.

Dark clothing, sunglasses and a gothic looking parasol protecting her from the midday sunlight. It was nearly impossible to recognise her but Elkie would never forget her vibe. Her aura was domineering, like she took all the air out of the surrounding area. When she entered the room it was as though everyone began walking on egg shells.

“I thought I’d find you here,” Nayeon chuckled, “A darkened gothic cottage, on the very edge of the town? You’re predictable my dear.”

“Nayeon? What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been sent with an invitation.” She held up a letter, sealed with the red stamp of the Myoui coven,

“Invitation to what?”

“We can talk all about that once I’m inside.” Nayeon smiled, “Care to allow me to come in?”

Elkie scoffed, “You want to come in!?”

“Well if you insist!” Nayeon pushed past her,

After taking a second to figure out what just happened, Elkie grabbed her shoulder stopping her in her tracks.

“You stay here.” She growled, “Tell me what you want.”

Nayeon rolled her eyes, “If it’s about your little play thing, Seungyeon already told me. Don’t worry I ate before I got here.”

She shrugged off Elkie’s grip and closed her parasol. Nayeon took off her glasses, walking into the living room where Tzuyu was still sat worried on the couch. The visitor cast her eyes over the décor and scoffed a little, muttering “quaint” to nobody in particular. Then her eyes landed on the frightened girl standing from the couch. Elkie moved quickly to stand between them, she didn’t trust Nayeon for a second.

The sight of the newborn caused Nayeon’s façade to crumble slightly in shock, but quickly the mask returned, “You turned her. That explains a lot.”

“Why are you here?” Elkie growled,

“Oh calm down,” Nayeon snapped, “I’m not here to exterminate your pet. We received reports that there had been too many disappearance in the area.”

Elkie felt Tzuyu grip her arm, “That was Tzuyu, she was turned a month ago. We’re trying to build her restraint but you know how that’s a hard process.”

“Still,” Nayeon continued, “It is too hard for one person to control a newborn, she needs a coven.”

Elkie growled, “She needs me. I can handle it.”

“Can you?” Nayeon replied, “The Council have had to meet so that Mina could defend you to the human representative.”

“The Council met over this?”

Nayeon nodded, “They had to choose a course of action. Mainly Mina had to talk them out of exterminating whoever was attacking the public.”

Tzuyu’s grip tightened.

“S-So what did they decide?” Elkie asked,

Nayeon was not getting near Tzuyu. Elkie would kill her if she tried to.

“Nevermore.”

Tzuyu blinked, eyes shifting to the discarded book, “Like the poem?”

“Ah…so she speaks.” Nayeon smiled, “Yes. Glad to see my message got through.”

“Message?” Tzuyu asked,

“Tell me girl,” Nayeon began, “What had Elkie told you about gifted vampires?”

“Only that she is faster than average vampires.”

“Damn it Elkie, have you taught her anything about the world you’ve dragged her into!?” Nayeon rolled her eyes, “Well that’s Elkie’s gift, some vampires have them. Mine is compulsion.”

“So you compelled her to suddenly develop an interest in poetry?” Elkie growled,

“No, I just nudged her towards that particular book.” Nayeon explained, “I thought it would be nice for you to know the namesake.”

“What’s Nevermore?” Tzuyu asked,

Nevermore was where the Council lived. It was a small village in the centre of a large forest, invisible to mortal eye. All the residents were members of the supernatural, most people avoided living there though. The Council ran everything and nobody liked being stuck under their constant watch.

“Nowhere.” Elkie muttered,

Nayeon tutted, “Now, now - don’t avoid her questions. Nevermore is a supernatural community, where you have both been invited to be residents.”

Nayeon held out the envelope and Elkie wrinkled her nose.

“Why on earth would we want to live there?”

“More of our kind, you wouldn’t have to move around as much,” Nayeon listed off, then her gaze turned solid, “Plus…you don’t really have a choice.”

Elkie scoffed.

“Oh yeah? What happens if I decide I don’t want Tzuyu anywhere near the Council?”

Nayeon raised an eyebrow, “That really wouldn’t be in your self interest, or Tzuyu’s.”

She placed the envelope on the coffee table and put her sunglasses back on. She told Elkie to think about it and showed herself out. Elkie threw a pillow after her in frustration, then she turned and hugged Tzuyu tightly. The newborn was shaking, having never met a ‘hostile’ vampire before. The envelope laid forgotten on the table, neither girl paying attention to it now. It could wait until both had recovered enough to start planning their next move.

Safe to say Tzuyu forgot her hunger for the moment.

_____

“The forest path is up here on the left.” Tzuyu instructed, looking at the map,

Elkie hummed and kept an eye out for the turning, she hadn’t spoken since they pulled on to this road about an hour ago. The realisation that they were truly leaving their quiet little cottage had hit her hard and safe to say she was now in a really bad mood. Tzuyu had sensed this and so just turned up the radio to fill the silence. She knew not to take it personally, Elkie was a vampire and vampires were broody by nature.

She made the turn into the tree line and travelled along the crude forest road. It wasn’t easy to see the turning, two large bushes somewhat hid it from the vacant road. Not that anyone would really travel up there anyway. The forest path was bumpy and Tzuyu told her to slow down in fear the boxes attached to the roof of the car would fall off. As they got further into the woods Elkie noted the road became blocked by a large cliff side up ahead.

Now a wandering mortal would stop their car and turn round, not wanting to have an accident. But Elkie knew better, having read the letter and the map enough to know this was the entrance. She kept going at the same speed and went straight into the cliff. The car sailed straight though and popped out on the other side no problem. Although they were no longer in the forest.

They were now entering a village surrounded by trees. As Elkie drove them over the wooden bridge the plaza became clearer and clearer. There were a few people out and all looked up at the cars arrival. Tzuyu shrunk in her seat, not liking the attention and Elkie just ignored them - keeping an eye out on the house numbers.

Number 81.

When she spotted it Elkie sighed in relief and pulled up outside. All the houses looked identical and were packed together like sardines. There was no sun, it was like the whole village was stuck in that weird time of day where it wasn’t quite dark enough for the street lamps to come on, but not light enough for it to count as daytime. The car stopped and she turned off the engine, yet neither moved to get out.

“I wanna go home.” Tzuyu muttered,

“Me too.” Elkie sighed, tightening her grip on the steering wheel,

“Hey,” A soft hand landed on top of hers, “We’ll make it work.”

Elkie turned to look at her, she finally gave a small smile and leaned forward to kiss Tzuyu softly. That finally gave them the motivation to leave the car. Tzuyu walked ahead to open the gate while Elkie opened the back door and grabbed a box. As she walked towards the now open front door she noted how large the house was. It intimidated her a little, she longed for their cozy cottage with their old couch and crumbling bookshelf.

Tzuyu met her at the door, taking the box from her with a small smile. She didn’t like their sudden move either, but she had reasoned it was better for her to be surrounded by their kind. If only to stop the killing spree. Elkie knew she needed to see the bright side, that she should stop sulking but it was hard. She had gotten used to being independent, she didn’t like having the Council so close and watching their every move.

Box after box was placed in the threshold for Tzuyu to place in the living room for now. They would start unpacking later but for the moment they just wanted to get everything inside. When she was finally down to the last box she locked the car and made her way inside. Elkie kicked the door closed behind her and walked into the living room. The house had modern furniture, they hadn’t been able to bring anything furniture-wise from their old house.

Still, she shouldn’t complain.

Instead she placed the final box by the bookshelf and opened it, beginning to place the books in their spot. Tzuyu walked out of the kitchen a moment later and chuckled.

“Of course you’d unpack the books first.”

“Well I’d hate to disappoint!” Elkie replied,

Tzuyu walked over and started helping, until she had a slight dizzy spell and had to brace herself on the wall. Elkie turned to her immediately and cupped her neck gently to have a good look at her face. She was pale - even for a vampire and starvation was beginning to become evident.

“Sweetheart…”

“I’m okay,” Tzuyu swallowed, leaning her forehead on Elkie’s, “I can last.”

Elkie frowned, “I promise, once I’ve finished unpacking these books I’ll find out where we’re meant to get blood from.”

Tzuyu hummed and opened her eyes again, something caught her attention on the bookshelf and her pained expression turned to a weak smile.

“You have Alice in Wonderland?”

Elkie chuckled, “I found it in my closet when we were packing.”

“I love that book.”

“’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves, did gyre and gimble in the wabe,” Elkie recited, “All mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome raths outgrabe.”

Tzuyu giggled, “Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!”

Elkie hummed and pulled Tzuyu closer, “Lewis Carroll has never been so y!”

“Hmm poetry is your weakness? Should have guessed.”

Elkie closed the gap and hummed at the taste of her cherry lip balm. Tzuyu clung to her coat, pulling her closer. When sharp fangs nibbled on her lip she gasped and opened , inviting the elder vampire to explore.

Knock, knock, knock.

Elkie pulled away with a groan, “We’ve lived here ten minutes and I’m already over it.”

Tzuyu giggled and pecked her nose before going to answer the door, “It’s probably just the welcome wagon.”

“Ew people.”

Tzuyu rolled her eyes and opened the door. Behind it stood a girl with a beaming smile and squirrel like features. She was bright and glowing, a change to the grey décor of the village. Behind her was a shorter black haired woman, the red eyes showed her to be a vampire. The girl who knocked on the door however was definitely human.

Tzuyu’s grip on the doorknob tightened as hunger pains hit her again. She closed her eyes and backed away from the woman, trying desperately to restrain herself but this woman smelt to good. Tzuyu was actually salavating.

“E-Elkie!” She shouted,

At the sound of her mates call Elkie raced to the door at supernatural speed and realised immediately what was going on. The vampire behind the human rolled her eyes and it was then Elkie noticed she was holding a box. She put down this crate and opened it, pulling a packet of blood out and throwing it to Tzuyu. The tall woman caught it mid-air and tore it open hungrily, unable to stop herself.

“Newborn, huh?” The mysterious vampire said,

The human looked guilty, “I’m sorry! I didn’t think that through.”

Elkie glared at them, “I thought humans weren’t allowed in the square.”

The human awkwardly laughed, “No, only mortals aren’t allowed. I’m immortal.”

“You’re immortal?” Elkie asked sceptical,

“Yup!” The woman giggled, “My parents were in some cult or something, long story but yeah. Whenever I die I just wake up minutes later - good as new.”

Elkie stared at her, so done with today.

“I’m Sana.” The immortal introduced, “I sit on the council as the ‘Other supernaturals’ representative. This is Momo, vampire and my wife. We live next door.”

“Hi.” Momo greeted, not unkindly but not warmly either,

“Elkie,” Was the short introduction, “Tzuyu’s my mate, she was turned just over a month ago.”

“Aww cute!” Sana beamed, “Anyway, we’re just here to drop off your blood crate. You’ll get one a week so ration it out but worse comes to worst I’m happy to be an emergency supply.”

She winked and Momo rolled her eyes from behind.

Elkie had no idea what to make of these two.

“Uhh…thanks.” Was what she settled on, “Well we need to finish unpacking.”

“Oh!” Sana gasped, “Of course! But come down to the plaza at midnight for a party, you’ll be able to meet everyone.”

Elkie picked up the crate, “Yeah. Thanks.”

She closed the door and took the crate into the kitchen, maybe she had been rude but she wasn’t in the mood to place nicely. Elkie just wanted to go home, to her little cottage. She missed the quaint little town they lived in, she missed preparing for a hunt. She didn’t want neighbours or blood pack deliveries, she wanted to go home. Putting the blood packs in the fridge, she sighed. It was no use wishing for things to go back how they were. Better to just adjust to the developments.

Elkie walked back into the living room and smiled at the sight of Tzuyu sat on the floor, the blood remnants out of the packet. She had the red substance all over and she looked healthier than earlier which made Elkie happy. Part of her had never expected to care about someone this much, definitely not care about one person more than her coven. But that was Tzuyu.

Her Lenore.

Part of her hated that she had been forced to turn Tzuyu into a monster like her. But then she realised that life without Tzuyu, even an after-life, would be empty. She would have nothing to go on for. Tzuyu was her world. Tzuyu who gave up her life for her, who had been reading poetry so that they would be able to bond over it. Elkie was a lucky woman, she knew that. So if living here made it easier for Tzuyu to feed then she would it up.

Because if Tzuyu was here then this was where her home was.